Quote:
Originally Posted by moon
Urban sprawl seems to be working just fine now. Energy prices don't seem to be stopping people., the environment is doing just fine as well.
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Un. Freakin. Believable.
I'm sorry moon, but it's very hard to take your argument seriously after you busted out this gem. Just.... wow. We're talking about arrogance, well.... this is it to the the up-teenth degree.
You may have a right to live out in far-stretching areas; that doesn't make it okay. Just because you choose to exercise a right to live out there, doesn't have any bearing on the moral / ethical implication of the decision you just made.
A huge reason why we're continually building outwards IS because of demand; that is EXACTLY it. People are demanding their white picket fence and 2500 sq. ft. property, and as a result, we have communities so far from the centre of the city you'd have to book a plane ticket just to get there.
THIS IS unsustainable. If there were more demand for inner-city living, you'd see developers developing more condominiums and townhouses - which, by the way, can be designed with great form and functionality to accompany even the most diversified of families. The notion that inner-city living is cramped is overblown. I've lived in the inner-city for 25 years and have never felt 'cramped'. I might not have the acreage that you do, but I don't need one. the only people who really need 'acres' of land are farmers. Other than that, it's all luxury. And an unsustainable luxury, at that, especially with the lifestyle patterns of large numbers of people in this city.
Once there are more inner-city dwellings on the market, prices go down. But people keep demanding houses - and large ones at that, so developers respond to where the money is, and keep building outwards. This is a vicious cycle, and until this mentality is changed, an increase - and a very plausible increase, at that - in inner-city dwellings will never be constructed due to this very old-fashioned mentality. Millions of people around the world - if not billions - don't have the luxury of the lifestyle we have here. If the entire world lived the way we lived - and us, in particular in Calgary, because of our urban sprawl problem - this world would have killed over in every faucet years ago.
Traditional_Ale, thank you for your response. I was going to say almost exactly the same thing.